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Category: materials – Page 23

New microscopy technique achieves 1-nanometer resolution for atomic-scale imaging

Understanding the interaction between light and matter at the smallest scales (angstrom scale) is essential for advancing technology and materials science. Atomic-scale structures, such as defects in diamonds or molecules in electronic devices, can significantly influence a material’s optical properties and functionality. To explore these tiny structures, we need to extend the capabilities of optical microscopy.

Researchers at the Fritz-Haber Institute of the Max-Planck Society, Germany, and their international collaborators at Institute for Molecular Science/SOKENDAI, Japan and CIC nanoGUNE, Spain have developed an approach to scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) that achieves a spatial resolution of 1 nanometer. This technique, termed as ultralow tip oscillation amplitude s-SNOM (ULA-SNOM), combines advanced microscopy methods to visualize materials at the atomic level.

The work is published in the journal Science Advances.

JWST finds unusual black hole in the center of the Infinity Galaxy: ‘How can we make sense of this?’

The researchers behind these findings uncovered the Infinity Galaxy while examining images from the JWST’s 255-hour treasury COSMOS-Web survey. In addition to the suspected direct collapse black hole that sits between the colliding galaxies, the team found that each nucleus of those galaxies also contains a supermassive black hole!

“Everything is unusual about this galaxy. Not only does it look very strange, but it also has this supermassive black hole that’s pulling a lot of material in,” team leader and Yale University researcher Pieter van Dokkum said in a statement. “The biggest surprise of all was that the black hole was not located inside either of the two nuclei but in the middle.

We asked ourselves: How can we make sense of this?

The magic of magnons: Material properties changed non-thermally using light and magnons

“The result was a huge surprise for us. No theory has ever predicted it,” says Davide Bossini.

Not only does the process work—it also has spectacular effects. By driving high-frequency pairs via laser pulses, the physicists succeeded in changing the frequencies and amplitudes of other magnons—and thus the magnetic properties of the material—in a non-thermal way.

“Every solid has its own set of frequencies: electronic transitions, lattice vibrations, magnetic excitations. Every material resonates in its own way,” explains Bossini. It is precisely this set of frequencies that can be influenced through the new process.

Researchers Solve Long-Standing Magnetic Problem With Atom-Thin Semiconductor

Scientists found a way to control magnetism in ultra-thin materials using CrPS₄, opening the door to more compact and energy-efficient technologies. A recent scientific breakthrough has unveiled a promising new technique for manipulating magnetism in ultra-thin materials, potentially paving the w

Physicists Achieve “Holy Grail” of Summing All Feynman Diagrams

A clever method from Caltech researchers now makes it possible to unravel complex electron-lattice interactions, potentially transforming how we understand and design quantum and electronic materials. Researchers at Caltech have developed a faster and more effective technique for calculating larg

Scientists achieve first experimental observation of the transverse Thomson effect

In a new Nature Physics paper, researchers report the first experimental observation of the transverse Thomson effect, a key thermoelectric phenomenon that has eluded scientists since it was predicted over a century ago.

For over a century, thermoelectric effects have formed the foundation of how physicists understand the link between heat and electricity. Our knowledge of how heat and electricity interact within materials is rooted in the Seebeck, Peltier, and Thomson effects, all identified during the 1800s.

The Thomson effect causes volumetric heating or cooling when an electric current and a flow in the same direction through a conductor.

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